new mattress purchase - pregnant wife - Charlotte, NC area

Discussions General Mattresses Questions
1

My wife and I are looking to purchase a mattress for the first time. We are both in our early thirties and she is pregnant for the first time. We are both about 5’-8" but she is significantly more ‘bony’ (i.e., less meat on her bones) than me. She is very slight and thin while I have very broad chest and shoulders. She also weighs nearly 100lb less than me.

We have been married for seven years and during our entire marriage we have slept on hand-me-down mattresses. We have two queen mattresses in our house - one is from her childhood bed and the second is her parents’ old one. Both of these mattresses are inner spring and are 25+ years old. [After our last move, I’m honestly not sure which mattress is in our master bedroom, but either way it’s old.]

We are planning to buy a king so we (mostly she) will have more room.

Me:
I have never been one to have problems sleeping [knocks on wood]. In terms of sleeping positions, I sleep in all three positions. I woke up this morning after reading this site some last night and realized that as I lay on my stomach, my midsection was too far down into the mattress making my back slightly uncomfortable (maybe this is normal for this position). My mattress feels ok to me for sleeping on my back, but I may not be very aware. For sleeping on my side on our current mattress, I never feel like either my shoulder or hips sink in enough. I probably don’t have a thick enough pillow for this position either.

Health concerns: I had some back problems about 15 years ago. I was diagnosed with a slipped disc (MRI was inconclusive). Luckily, it hasn’t bothered me much lately. Like many people, I don’t always find enough time to exercise and when my midsection ‘expands,’ there is more pressure and resulting discomfort in my lower back.

Wife:
She sleeps on her side and back and has always complained of back, hip, and shoulder discomfort regarding our current mattress. She says the mattress is “too firm” and doesn’t “give enough” at these pressure points. Right now, she is pregnant, which only exacerbates her problems sleeping. Between her hormones, her added weight/size, our daughter kicking her from inside, and her longstanding comfort issues with our mattress - we have decided to do some mattress shopping.

Will her current state (7-8 months pregnant) alter or change her preferences for a mattress that she tries out? In other words, will a mattress that feels good to her at a store today well completely different after her pregnancy? We hope/plan to keep whatever we buy for many years.

Our preferences:
We have ruled out pure memory foam. We both sleep hot so that was an easy choice. We also know that we do not want air and/or water. We are leaning toward either full-on latex or a hybrid latex and inner spring. In addition to the support, softness, and durability advantages, the hypoallergenic properties of latex appeal to us.

We had a salesperson tell us recently that we need an inner spring to provide proper support but a foam can provide beneficial properties for comfort for upper layers. I’m not sure if he was trying to sell one of his hybrid models or if that is a typical theory/opinion.

Our budget is between $1,000 and $2,000 but I would prefer to bargain something down to $1,500 or less.

We are in the Charlotte area. Based on reading this site, we intend to go to the myluxury mattress store in Mooresville (www.lakemattress.biz/) and the Dilworth Mattress Factory also (http://www.dilworthmattressfactory.com/).

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

2

Hi Lucasd2002,

I think these are good “exclusions” in your case for the reasons you are suggesting.

Stomach sleeping is the “riskiest” of all the sleeping positions because of the tendency to hyperextend the spine because of hammocking. If you sleep in multiple positions then there is a conflict between the needs of side sleeping (which generally needs thicker softer comfort layers for pressure relief) and stomach sleeping (which needs thinner firmer comfort layers to keep you closer to the support layers of the mattress). In these cases … it’s generally best to choose a mattress which has “just enough” pressure relief for side sleeping to lower the risk of hammocking when you are on your stomach. Center zoning can also help in these cases with a firmer center zone helping to hold up the hips/pelvis which can allow for slightly softer comfort layers for your other positions. A “scrunchy” pillow can also make a good choice so that the conflicting needs of stomach and side sleeping can be accommodated (thin for stomach sleeping and thicker and more supportive for side sleeping).

With a tendency towards disc issues … it becomes even more important to make sure that you have good alignment in all your sleeping positions so that the spine can maintain neutral alignment in all your sleeping positions. I would tend in these cases to put your alignment needs over pressure relief because a mattress that is slightly too firm can always be softened with a mattress pad or topper but a mattress where the support layers are too soft is much more difficult to “fix”.

Being mostly a side and back sleeper and with her lower weight and thin body type she will likely need softer and thinner comfort layers for good pressure relief and the comfort layers in your current mattress have probably deteriorated to a point where it is too firm under all the pressure points. She won’t need comfort layers as thick as you will because of her lower weight (she won’t sink as far into the mattress).

Sometimes it can be a challenge to choose a mattress that can accommodate a big weight differential and post #2 here has some ideas that may help in what to look for. While your own personal testing will say more than “theory” a thinner softer comfort layer for her with a transition layer that functions more for support for her and for additional pressure relief for you may work well with a very firm support layer on the bottom (which would help your alignment issues while she would be more isolated from its firmness by the comfort and transition layers).

I would also make sure that you test each mattress you are seriously considering for at least 15 minutes completely relaxed in the showroom (plus whatever time it take to get into a completely relaxed pre-sleep state). Make sure you test specifically for pressure relief and for alignment separately. Pressure relief is easier to feel in a showroom because it’s not as difficult to tell when a mattress is too firm and causing some discomfort or has a feeling that you are going though into a firmer layer (especially with side sleeping) but alignment is a little more difficult to test for. Post #11 here may help with this.

In the later stages of pregnancy then it’s very difficult to tell what will feel good because everything is so “awkward” and different but if she is not too far along then what she needs now will likely be close to what she needs after the pregnancy. A “pregnancy pillow” or a “body pillow” can help in the later stages of pregnancy to help make up for the unusual needs for both pressure relief and support during this time and it can also help with feeding if doing this in bed is part of the plan.

I believe that every type of support material can provide good alignment if the overall layering of the mattress is right. While some may prefer the “feel” of an innerspring or polyfoam or latex, they are really a matter of preference and different tradeoffs (including price) rather than one being “better” than another. Innersprings, polyfoam, and latex all come in softer and firmer versions that can be either more or less supportive depending on the needs of the person. when you hear “theories” like this I tend to treat them as opinions and your own personal experience when testing mattresses “trumps” any other theory (mine included). Foam (whether polyfoam or latex foam) can be just as supportive (in the sense of firmness or resistance to compression under weight) as an innerspring and in some cases even more so depending on which type of innerspring you are comparing to which type of “foam”.

You’ve probably seen this but just in case the Charlotte “list” is in post #2 here and there are are two other manufacturers in the area that may also be worth considering although both of them have latex mattresses that may be a little on the soft side (in terms of support) for your heavier weight.

Hope this helps.

Phoenix

3

We have been to two stores: Lake Mattress and Dilworth Mattress Co

Lake Mattress

We went to Lake Mattress (myluxury mattress) last Saturday. There were 2 mattresses that we liked.

The Luxury Classic Mattress has a 0.75" organic cotton layer over a 3" layer of 24IFD Talalay latex over multiple layers of soy foam (a 3" transition and a 3.25" base). (The paper we have from the store does not match the website - appears similar to the Luxury 300 Mattress on the site.)

The Natural Luxury Mattress has a 0.75" organic cotton layer over a 2" layer of 24IFD Talalay latex over a 2" layer of 32IFD Talalay latex over a 6" layer of 40IFD Talalay latex.

When factoring in cost, we definitely preferred the Luxury Classic over the Natural Luxury. We thought they felt the same. In fact, I thought the Natural Luxury collapsed too much when I sat on it near the edge. My wife was not sure but thought that both may have been too firm.

Dilworth Mattress Factory

Today, my wife went to Dilworth. She liked the Performance Model, which has a 4" Talalay base layer, a 3" softer Talalay layer, and a 1.5 plush/soft Talalay layer. We don’t know what the IFD values for these layers are. The Dilworth bed is significantly more expensive than the Luxury Classic we liked at Lake Mattress.

We are thinking about getting the Luxury Classic and, if necessary, buying softer topper (maybe a IFD19 Talalay) if my wife thinks she needs a softer layer.

4

Were you able to find out what the density of the soy foam core is? It might make a big difference in the durability of the mattress.

You’re looking for a bare minimum of 1.8 lb/cu.ft - preferably 2+

I’m weighing the same options right now. The foam base sure makes it a lot more affordable! Best of luck.

5

Hi Lucasd2002,

All of the options you are looking at are good quality but of course without all the prices I can’t know their relative “value”

When you are testing mattresses locally then knowing the IFD (ILD) isn’t as important because it’s just a measure of firmness and isn’t a measure of quality. As long as you test specifically for pressure relief and for alignment and spend long enough on the mattress (at least 15 minutes fully relaxed) then your body will tell you more than the specs of the mattress. With latex … the type and blend of the latex determines the cost, quality, and value.

The Luxury 300 has only 2" of latex so the specs you have would be closer to the specs for the Luxury Classic on the site. They both have 3" of latex over 6+" of polyfoam although they seem to have changed the polyfoam layering (which would affect the feel more than the value).

It’s not uncommon for latex to sink deeply when you sit on the edge because it is very elastic and in most cases the edge isn’t reinforced (and doesn’t need it). The softness when you sit on the edge is very different from the weight profile and distribution when you lie on the mattress. Adding edge reinforcement to latex is not usually a good idea because the firmer polyfoam that is usually used ends up degrading faster than the latex.

Both of these have a top layer of 24 ILD which is considered “soft” but the Natural Luxury has only 2" of this and then has firmer latex underneath. I would test these two carefully (again at least 15 minutes on each of them completely relaxed as if you were going to sleep and in all your sleeping positions) because the Natural Luxury may be more suitable for both of you (it has the firmer “transition” layer I was mentioning in a previous post that may act more as part of your comfort layer and more as part of her support layer). If it was a little too firm then there would still be room to add a softer topper for some extra pressure relief which also has the advantage of being replaceable because the top layers will soften and wear faster than the deeper layers.

All of the mattresses at Lake Mattress have good value.

In terms of its construction and materials, this would be more comparable with the Natural Luxury mattress at Lake mattress because both of them are all latex and a polyfoam base layer is (or at least should be) significantly less than a latex base layer because it is a much less costly material.

You are certainly choosing between “good and good” and it would be difficult to make a “bad” choice in terms of quality and value with the options you are looking at. I have talked with both manufacturers you are looking at and think highly of both of them.

@ Brownie19,

When I talked with Lake mattress they told me that they use a minimum of 2.0 lb polyfoam and higher depending on the mattress and sometimes the person they are making it for (which is good quality) but they will provide the specific information about any of their mattresses.

Phoenix